A Sprinkling of Christmas Magic

by Elizabeth Rolls

  Sarah could not move, could not tear her stare from Daniel.

  ‘You are early,’ snapped Captain Higgs at his men, before barking at the blue-uniformed officer who accompanied the marines and Daniel. ‘Get Mrs Ellison out of here, Lieutenant Peyton. She should not have to witness this.’

  ‘At once, sir.’ The lieutenant took her arm and began to guide her away.

  She glanced back and saw them take Daniel into Captain Higgs’s cabin.

  The door slammed shut.

  * * *

  Sarah sat that night alone at the tiny desk in her cabin. All was quiet save for the roar of the wind and ocean that was always there in the background. She barely noticed it any more. From up on deck she heard the faint chime of six bells. An hour before midnight and still she had not slept a wink, nor even pretended it could be so.

  Her mind could not forget that image of Daniel Alexander. It had haunted her for every minute of every hour since. That they had beaten him made her heart bleed. But it was that look in his eyes that she kept coming back to again and again.

  Inside her pocket the letter lay snug. She was so conscious of its presence she could feel it burning through the layers of clothing like a touch from Daniel’s fingers. She fished it out, laid it on the table before her.

  It was addressed to Lord Mulgrave of Admiralty House in Westminster, London, written in a hand that was surprisingly artistic for so physical a man. But then he was an earl’s son, and a Royal Navy captain!

  He found himself a woman in New York that he was reticent to leave.

  She rubbed a hand against her forehead, feeling bitter at how much of a fool she had been, and was still being. She should have given the letter to Higgs and been done with it; should have chalked Daniel down to just one more mistake and moved on with her life.

  She closed her eyes and saw again Daniel with his eye blackened and his lip cut and that look in his eyes, and knew she could do none of those things. And if Daniel had deserted for a woman in New York, what was he doing sailing back to England aboard a ship on which no one noticed him missing?

  With great care she turned the letter over. The red wax seal bore the indent of no signet or seal, only the mark of a man’s thumbprint with a distinctive scar in the shape of a crescent moon. She swallowed and touched her fingers against it, resting her thumb where his had been.

  I love you, lass.

  It was what men like him said. He had lied. Just like Robert and Brandon Taverner. And yet, sitting here, she knew he was nothing like either of those twin imposters. She thought of that night on Angel’s deck when he had held her as she was sick. She thought of the storm and how he had saved them. She thought of how he had stayed with her at her lowest ebb through Imelda’s fever. And of the tenderness of his lovemaking.

  I love you, lass—for all that it will appear otherwise.

  She looked again at the red wax seal.

  What is between us is no lie. In that at least I have been honest, I swear.

  There was one way to know for sure.

  Sarah hesitated no longer, but broke the wax seal.

  And the words that Daniel had penned on that sheet of paper made her heart turn over. For a few moments she just sat there letting the truth sink in before resealing the letter and replacing it in her pocket. She understood now why Daniel had lied and why he had behaved so abominably towards her before Higgs. Protection. She closed her eyes. Amidst all the lies he was the only man who had shown her the truth of himself.

  Sarah prepared very carefully. And when she was finally done she fastened her cloak around her shoulders, fitted her bonnet to her head. Lifting up her basket and her lantern, she went to find the orlop deck.

  Chapter Seven

  From the gloom and silence of his dank prison down in the bowels of the ship Daniel heard the light tread of a woman’s footsteps and looked up to see Sarah—the angel who appeared when darkness threatened and all hope seemed lost.

  He uttered not one word, made no move other than to fix his eyes upon her, unsure of what she could be doing here.

  Sarah did not so much as look at him. She smiled at the two marines who stood, muskets in hand, guarding the locked bars of his cell.

  ‘Forgive my intrusion, gentlemen. Captain Higgs told me that rogue who has so dishonoured the King’s uniform was imprisoned down here.’ She flicked a glance of utter contempt at Daniel.

  ‘As you see, ma’am.’ The tallest marine gave her a small bow.

  ‘You are sure he cannot escape?’ There was an edge to her voice that sounded like fear.

  The marine smirked. ‘We are very sure.’

  ‘Do not laugh at me, sir. I have seen that of which he is capable. He is dangerous in the extreme.’

  ‘Begging your pardon, ma’am.’ The marine looked contrite. ‘But he is shackled and locked behind iron bars.’

  ‘And the keys are safe from his reach?’

  The marine glanced at the second bunch of keys that hung on the wall opposite Daniel’s cell. ‘Rest assured they are, ma’am.’

  ‘You will be here to guard him in person? All night?’

  ‘Indeed. Corporal Clarke and I have that honour. Captain Alexander is locked up safe. He won’t be leaving his cell before we anchor in Plymouth.’

  Her relief was visible even from where he sat so still within the gloom. ‘Thank you for your reassurance, Lieutenant.’ He saw her smile.

  The marine smiled, too, and glanced away, pleased but embarrassed. ‘It’s just plain Corporal Brown, ma’am.’

  ‘Well, Corporal Brown, I will sleep easier tonight for having spoken to you.’

  Brown gave a nod.

  ‘I will leave you to your guarding, sir.’ She turned to leave, then stopped as if a sudden thought had occurred. ‘I have spent the night delivering some small gifts to the officers of HMS Viper who so valiantly rescued my niece and myself.’ She pulled back the cover of the basket hooked over her arm. Daniel could not see what was within, only the way the lantern light glinted on something dark.

  ‘I made a whole batch before leaving New York, to give as Christmas gifts when I reached England. But it is almost Christmas, and if any two gentlemen deserve something warming on this cold December night it is most certainly Corporals Brown and Clarke.’ She handed Brown a bottle of mulled wine. ‘Goodnight, gentlemen.’

  Not a look. Not a glance. Only hostility that bristled.

  But with the scent of cloves and cinnamon and rich red wine strong as Brown and Clarke shared the wine Sarah had left, Daniel smiled and felt his heart blossom.

  * * *

  Almost an hour had passed when Sarah returned.

  Brown and Clarke were sprawled face down on the guard’s table. He watched her fetch the keys from their hook on the wall and unlock the door of his cell.

  ‘You should have told me,’ she said as she fitted the smaller keys into the locks of his shackles.

  ‘That I was a deserter?’

  ‘I know you are not a deserter, Daniel.’

  The shackles loosed and fell away.

  ‘You read the letter,’ he said.

  ‘Of course I read the letter!’ She glanced up at him and everything that was between them welled up and overflowed.

  ‘Sarah, lass... God help me!’ It would have taken so many words to tell her and Daniel knew he was not an eloquent man. Instead, he pulled her into his arms and with his kiss showed her the truth of what was in his heart.

  The time was not enough, but he made the best use of it. And when he eased back to look into her eyes he smiled before flicking his eyes to the basket that sat by her feet.

  ‘You were not lying when you said Great-Grandmother Bowden’s mulled wine was a potent brew.’

  ‘I added a little extra special ingredient to h
elp it along—laudanum.’

  He laughed. ‘Shame you haven’t enough to drug the whole ship.’

  ‘I managed most of the officers.’ She lifted the basket and opened its cover to reveal two duelling pistols, complete with bullets and rods. ‘They were Robert’s. After a little incident between myself and a gentleman in New York I thought it wise to bring them with me. A lady cannot be too sure of what manner of scoundrel she might come across on the high seas these days.’

  ‘Sarah Ellison, what would I do without you?’ What would he do without her in truth? She was the most amazing woman.

  ‘Not mutiny a frigate of His Majesty’s navy, that is for sure.’

  He slid his hand over her hip, pulled her close and kissed her lips quick and hard. ‘You know I love you, don’t you?’ He loved her, and everything else that he was about to do was easy because of that.

  ‘I know,’ she said softly, then stronger, ‘You best get to it, Captain Alexander. I have a niece to keep safe.’

  * * *

  The night had almost passed when Sarah finally made her way up to the main deck of HMS Viper.

  The first thing she noticed was the chill. The second was the beauty of the clear night sky. The moon hung fatter than the sickle on Daniel’s thumb and, all above, covering the lush velvet darkness was the twinkling of stars. She breathed in the cool night air and moved her gaze lower.

  He was standing up on the quarterdeck, his lone figure silhouetted against the moonlight. The tension that had been tight in Sarah all night eased.

  ‘Sarah?’ He turned at her approach and against his hip was fastened a naval captain’s sheathed sword with the two pistols tucked within its belt.

  ‘Where is Higgs?’

  ‘Shackled on the orlop deck with the few that were party to his treachery. With a little bit of persuasion Higgs squealed like a pig, confessing his all before his crew and Davies’s too.’ She saw the way his fingers touched to the hilt of the sword at those words, saw the bruises and scrapes against his knuckles and did not ask the manner of persuading. Daniel was a formidable warrior. ‘They are decent men. Viper is under my control. I did not want to wake you.’

  ‘As if I could sleep.’

  He gave a chuckle and held out his hand to her.

  She took it and moved to stand by his side at the bulwark, just as she had done so many times before.

  They stood in silence, looking out over the beauty of the night seascape, with the wind on their cheeks, and the damp salty scent of the ocean in their noses. The luminous moon bathed them in its ethereal light and turned the sea to rippling molten silver. All was silent save for the creak of timber and the rhythmic wash of the waves. The men on the morning watch high above on their lofty perch made no sound.

  ‘I need to tell you the truth, Sarah.’ He had wanted to for so long.

  ‘You do not need to tell me anything. Words can lie. Actions show the truth of a man’s heart and I already know the truth of yours, Daniel Alexander.’

  He smiled. ‘I want to tell you, Sarah. Nothing of lies.’

  She gave a nod.

  He looked directly into her eyes, and began to talk. Of his father, who was the Earl of Glen Affric, his mother and his brother, Viscount Cannich. About his career at sea. And then he told her of his fellow frigate captain Albert Higgs and how Daniel had found that he was taking payments to give clear passage to ships transporting slaves from Africa to the West Indies. And not only that, but that Higgs had protected the slavers from other frigates. Admiralty had suspected corruption and had tasked Daniel to discover who was involved. He had been sworn to absolute secrecy even from his crew.

  ‘It is the worst of trades and Higgs has been bought off with vast sums of money. Little wonder how far he went to prevent discovery.’

  ‘It was Higgs that left you to drown.’

  ‘We have a contact in New York who had in his possession a letter naming the English officer we were after. I was in New York for the letter, but when I got to the meeting place, Jeffries was dead and a gang of ruffians waiting for me.’

  Sarah’s fingers tightened around his.

  ‘I did not know that it was Higgs, not until they removed the hood from my head.’ He remembered that moment. ‘He was my friend.’ And Higgs had betrayed a lifetime of trust.

  ‘Is that why he did not bind you when he threw you into the water—for the sake of your friendship?’

  Daniel gave a cynical laugh. ‘He did not wish there to be any evidence of foul play in the remote chance my body was discovered. The corpse would have been an unknown man dead through an accident.’

  ‘And that is why he removed your uniform—so that you would not be identified.’

  ‘He wanted my disappearance to be taken for desertion. Before he dumped me overboard he delighted in telling me the seeds he had sown for that ultimate dishonour.’

  ‘But I still do not understand why you did not reveal your true identity to those on the Angel. They were not of the Royal Navy.’

  ‘The slave trade is like a club with members through all manner of shipping, legitimate merchant vessels included. I could trust no one.’

  She nodded her understanding.

  ‘I am sorry for the façade I had to play before Higgs. Had he realised what was between us, that I might have confided in you...’ He shook his head. ‘Higgs would have stopped at nothing, Sarah, not women, not even bairns. I couldn’t risk that.’

  ‘I worked it out...eventually.’

  ‘And I’m sorry, too, that I lied to you, Sarah. I know how you feel about men that lie.’

  She took his face between her hands, looking deep into his eyes. ‘You did what you had to do, Daniel. As you said aboard the Angel, sometimes lies are told for the best of reasons. Who, more than I, knows that? All those years pretending I did not know of Robert’s infidelities before his death and pretending that I had loved him afterwards. And never more so than here aboard the Angel. Lying with my mourning weeds, lying with my mouth, because I was so afraid of what I felt for you.’

  ‘There is nothing more of lies between us, lass, nor will there ever be.’

  * * *

  The winter dawn was breaking as HMS Viper approached Plymouth.

  The sky glowed a glorious pink as the rising sun emerged from its slumber. Only the deep-blue west remained of the fleeing night even though, still high in the sky, hung the same clear crescent moon, defying the dawn.

  Sarah ignored the chill that goose-fleshed her skin, and watched the west cling to the vestige of the night, as she clung to the last of this incredible journey. It had been nothing that she had imagined, but so much more in every way. Christmas really was a time of miracles.

  Plucking Daniel from the waters of the North Atlantic had been the first.

  The Angel surviving the storm, the second.

  The third was Imelda’s recovery.

  The fourth miracle was the miracle of love for a woman who had spent a lifetime without it.

  She had found a man who was true, a man whose heart was merged with her own.

  Daniel moved to stand behind her, wrapping his arm around her waist, snuggling her close before lowering his mouth to her ear. ‘You know I must take Higgs before the Admiralty in London and clear my name before anything else, Sarah?’

  ‘I know,’ she said and let herself relax against the warm strength of his body.

  He kissed the top of her head and rested his chin there, and together they watched Plymouth come ever closer in the magnificence of the winter sunrise.

  * * *

  ‘The Times makes mention of the naval frigate you travelled upon,’ Sarah’s brother, Thomas, commented as they sat before the fire in the drawing room of Bowden House. ‘Apparently its captain, one Albert Higgs, has been arrested and charged with accepti
ng bribes, dereliction of duty and the attempted murder of a fellow officer. My word, quite the villain!’

  ‘Indeed.’ Sarah sipped at her glass of warmed mulled wine.

  ‘I always knew Captain Alexander was not the one who was the villain.’ Imelda climbed upon her papa’s knee.

  ‘And how did you know that?’ Thomas enquired.

  ‘Because he saved us.’ Imelda gave a grin. ‘And he liked Aunt Sarah very much.’

  ‘Did he now?’ Thomas shot Sarah a glance. ‘Your Aunt Sarah made no mention of that bit of the story.’

  Sarah felt a traitorous heat blossom in her cheeks. ‘Imelda exaggerates.’

  ‘No, I don’t. He told me it was so. And then there was the time in my cabin, when I was unwell and he cuddled you.’

  ‘You had a fever, Imelda, and were imagining things.’

  ‘It seemed real.’

  ‘It always does.’

  Her brother said nothing, but there was a speculative look in his eye when his gaze met Sarah’s.

  ‘Come now, it is time we readied ourselves for the midnight service, or have you forgotten it is Christmas Eve?’ She smiled to lighten the slight tension that had erupted and wished that Daniel would come soon.

  And, as if to save her, Imelda’s two little sisters came running into the room, all excited at staying up late for the special Christmas church service.

  * * *

  Sarah celebrated Christmas with her brother, his wife and their three children. There was no letter from Daniel, and no mention of Captain Alexander in any of the Admiralty columns of the newspapers even though Sarah scoured each one.

  The days passed and Sarah looked for him on each one with mounting anxiety. How long did it take to deliver Higgs to London and report the truth of what had happened? Surely not this long, even allowing for the weather? At first she worried that something had gone wrong before Admiralty but she knew that, were that the case, it would have been reported in one of the newspapers. And then the doubts began to whisper, like devils, in her ear.